Libby may have been found guilty of perjury, but he has a new ally to help him with his appeal. Charlie Heimbold, who was chairman and chief executive of Bristol-Myers Squibb before handing the reins to the ill-starred Peter Dolan six years ago, has just agreed to support the Libby Legal Defense Trust as an advisory committee member.

This is something of a return to the limelight for the 73-year-old New Jersey native and former US Navy officer. After leaving the drugmaker, he spent three years, until 2004, as US Ambassador to Sweden, an uneventful assignment compared with the Middle East or most other parts of the world, for that matter.

Since then, he’s kept an even lower profile. That’s probably for the better. He escaped the harsh glare of federal prosecutors, who descended upon the drugmaker for an accounting scandal that took place during the waning moments of his tenure. A trial of two former Bristol employees is set to begin later this year. For the record, Heimbold was never implicated. Dolan, meanwhile, also survived the mess, but was tossed out the door last fall after another scandal, this one involving a generic drugmaker.

By backing Libby, however, Heimbold will likely garner more attention than he has in years, probably since the drugmaker was repeatedly chastised for fighting a losing battle against South Africa over patents on AIDS treatments.

Still, Heimbold believes in good causes and is loyal to his friends. After all, where would Peter Dolan be without him?

[tags]Bristol-Myers Squibb, Charles Heimbold, Peter Dolan, Scooter Libby[/tags]